Some vehicles are equipped with external lighting systems, commonly combined into the external door mirror, to illuminate a ground area adjacent a door when the door is open. Such lighting is often referred to as “puddle lighting” because it enables a user of the motor vehicle to see puddles or obstacles on the ground during exit from the vehicle, an example of such a puddle lighting system is disclosed in JP2001206141. Although such external lighting systems are able to illuminate the ground on the outer side of an open door, an occupant, when climbing into or out of a vehicle needs to step onto the area between the door aperture and the interior side of the open door. With such an exterior mirror lighting system this ground is not properly illuminated because the area is screened from the light source by the door.
WO 01/36870 describes a lighting system arranged around the bottom interior edge of a vehicle door to provide puddle lighting. Although such a system provides better lighting for passenger ingress and egress, additional lighting is required for interior lighting purposes, such as task lighting.
With the ever increasing demands on motor vehicle manufacturers to keep down the cost, weight and complexity of operation of their vehicles, there exists a need to provide a lighting system that can combine one or more interior lighting tasks with puddle lighting in a cost-effective manner.
EP 1363810 describes the use of high intensity lights mounted to an interior mirror to provide ground illumination. Such lights may also be used as task lighting to facilitate map reading and other activities. It is a disadvantage of such an arrangement that the lights are mounted to the interior mirror and are therefore directly within a driver's line of sight. This could potentially be a distraction and could cause glare if used while driving.
It is therefore desirable to provide a lighting system for a motor vehicle which is able to provide both interior lighting and exterior puddle lighting without causing glare or being a distraction to a driver of the motor vehicle.